


The Quintessential Difference Theory

by Ikira



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Everyone kind of sucks at communication and pretty much everyone has a secret, Found Family, Gym Challenges, I am trying my best and for that I'm not sorry, Legendary Pokemon - Freeform, Mentions of a dark past, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pidge as a disguise for Katie, Pokemon Battle, Pokemon Contests, Pokemon Journey, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-19 10:17:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14871873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikira/pseuds/Ikira
Summary: In the region of Altea, trouble is brewing. The previous champion has been mysteriously murdered, with no leads and few suspects the police are willing to confront. A researcher and his son from Kanto have gone missing without a trace. A local gang calling themselves Team Galra has appeared and started stealing Pokemon for some unknown purpose. Things are tense and uneasy across the region.But meanwhile, a man wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who he is or where he came from, a young girl comes from across the sea to search for her missing family, and several young trainers set out on their Pokemon journeys. Slowly but surely, they find themselves coming together, forming a team that can face down the threats that challenge them, support each other, and maybe just save the world.Who or what is Voltron...?





	1. The Man With No Name

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I just want to start off by saying this fic isn't finished. But at this point it's so long, I'm scared the series will be over and done with long before I finish writing this story, and by the time it's all posted no one will really care anymore. Hence I've decided to start posting. I have no idea if or when it'll be finished, but I promise I have a fair chunk already written, so at least I have some buffer time to work with. Huge thank you to **sexythewalkingcatfish** for being both my beta and cheerleader, sounding wall and inspiration, and occasional ass-kicker when the need arose. Without you, this fic would never have existed.
> 
> Secondly, I want everyone to know I started writing this fic back in December of 2016, before season 2 had even aired. I had no idea what a monster this was going to become, so I hadn't even created an outline at that point. I just had some vague ideas of what scenes I wanted to include later, and some pretty good ideas for the first chapter or so. After season 2 came out though, I decided to create an outline so I could keep track of where I would include the new characters, and at that point I fully fleshed out the plotline. It was pretty much set by maybe the end of March.
> 
> As a result, many characters and plot points from Season 3 onward are not taken into account for this fic. Considering the plot is only loosely inspired by the show, and really doesn't follow its major plot at all, the plot twists probably don't matter all that much, but it does mean some major characters aren't going to show up. For example, we didn't know that Lotor existed at the point I settled on the plot, and therefore he unfortunately won't be making an appearance. I will probably still grab random characters here and there from later seasons to use as NPCs and other characters to flesh out the world, but that'll largely be it. I apologize if this disappoints anyone.
> 
> Finally, while this fic will have some romantic moments and some shipping, it's largely meant to be an adventure story, so there won't be a huge amount of focus on that. I'm hoping to develop any romantic relationships more slowly and naturally anyways. I'll change the relationship tags if need be, but for now be aware that the shipping is largely on the backburner for this story.
> 
> And that's probably enough rambling from me, onto the story!

He awoke to the sounds of machines softly beeping, voices speaking in low murmurs from somewhere just outside the room, and the shuffle of someone’s footsteps as they moved around him. For a moment, all he could do was lie there and listen. He tried to move, but his entire body felt like it was made out of lead; even his fingers were too heavy to lift. But he forced his eyes open, struggling against his exhaustion, to blink up at a plain white ceiling.

“Oh!” A soft voice exclaimed from right beside him. He slowly turned his head, searching for the source, when a figure leaned into his line of vision. His eyesight was blurry, but he could see that it was a woman wearing brightly patterned scrubs. A nurse?

“Well, well, Mr. John Deerling,” the woman said slowly, her tone gentle but pleased. “Welcome back to the land of the living. You’ve been out for quite some time.”

John Deerling? That couldn’t be his name, right? No; he was pretty sure that was the name they gave to people whose identities were unknown. His name was definitely something else, but at the moment he just couldn’t seem to recall what it was. Worse, the more he tried to remember it, the more he realized he couldn’t remember much at  _ all. _ What was going on?!

“… _ w-where _ …” he wheezed, struggling to ask a question through a parched throat. The nurse immediately placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, and reached over to his bedside table to grab a cup of water with a straw. She raised the bed enough so that he could take a sip without choking, holding the cup steady for him with her free hand.

“You’re in the Garrison City Hospital,” she explained as he drank. “You were found lying in a ditch on the outskirts of town about two weeks ago, horribly beaten and unconscious. Someone thankfully found you and brought you to us to be patched up, but you’ve been in a coma ever since. Unfortunately that’s all we know; you weren’t exactly carrying ID,” she finished with a shrug. Then, satisfied that he’d had enough, she took the cup away and placed it back on the bedside table. “I’m sure the doctor will be in to see you in a moment, of course. She’ll be able to explain a bit more.”

She  _ could _ explain a bit more, it turned out, but not much. The doctor told him about how his recovery was going, that now that he was awake they expected he’d be able to leave in a few days with some rehab training to get his muscles up and running again after weeks of not moving. But they didn’t know his name, they didn’t know where he’d come from, and they had no idea why he’d been attacked and apparently left for dead. It left him quite frustrated, even though he knew it wasn’t the staff’s fault. He just really wanted his  _ name _ at least. He was tired of responding to “John”.

But by the end of the week, nothing else had come back to him, and he’d gotten used to the name for now, though it still grated on him. Then, one bright sunny morning, “John” looked up when the doctor walked into the room with a grimace on her face, a clipboard in her hand, and a fluffy pink creature trailing along behind her. “John” blinked at the creature in confusion for a moment before he realized it was a Pokemon. A…Wigglytuff?

“Good morning, doctor,” he greeted the pair carefully, pushing his breakfast tray aside and sitting up in bed to face them.

“Good morning, John,” the doctor said in return. She walked fully into the room and came to a stop at his bedside. Behind her, the Wigglytuff shut the door for privacy. “Sorry to bother you so early in the morning.”

“It’s alright,” he quickly reassured her. “I’ve been up for a while now. What’s up?”

“Well,” the doctor began with a small smile. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your recovery has gone better than any of us have expected. Your last CT scan came back completely normal, and your physical therapist says that you’re pretty much back in shape. We really have no more reason to keep you in the hospital.”

“John’s” eyes widened in surprise. He’d known that he was doing well, all of the nurses had been telling him so, but he hadn’t realized he was that far along. “So what’s the bad news?” he prompted.

“We have no more reason to keep you in the hospital,” she repeated, but much more bluntly. “And unfortunately, we need the bed. We’re going to discharge you today.”

“W-what?” he squawked, completely blindsided. “B-but I still have no idea who I am or what happened to me! I have nowhere to go!” They couldn’t just toss him out on the street, could they?

“We know,” she quickly reassured him, even going so far as to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. In the corner of the room, the Wigglytuff started letting out soothing noises, almost like a lullaby, and “John” felt himself instinctively calming down as a result. “We know, and of course we aren’t going to just cut you loose without anywhere to go. My team has been talking, and we’ve created a plan for you, if you’re willing to try it.” She waited for him to reluctantly nod in agreement before she continued. “Now, it’s a little unorthodox for someone your age to be starting a Pokemon journey, but we think it’s best if we set you up as a Pokemon trainer here in the Altea Region.”

“A…Pokemon trainer?” he repeated slowly, turning the idea over in his mind. While at first he wanted to balk at the idea, he had to admit that it made sense the more he thought about it. Most people went on their Pokemon journeys right after finishing High School; they’d travel their home region for a few years, learn about their world and pick up a few Pokemon companions, and then generally they’d settle into a profession. Most didn’t have the temperament to become professional trainers, as it was a dangerous job that involved a lot of travelling, camping out, and physical activity. But for those that could stomach it, there was good money in Pokemon battles, you could gain a lot of prestige if you took on the Gym challenges and the Pokemon League, and there were resources in place to support you, such as Pokemon Centers. And for “John”, who didn’t seem to have any training or life skills that he could remember, it would be a good job for him while he tried to figure himself out, even if he would be a little bit older than the usual starting trainer.

More importantly, something inside him told him that this was  _ right _ . He was  _ meant _ to be a Pokemon Trainer.

The doctor seemed to be waiting patiently – and perhaps nervously – for him to speak, so he looked up at her and smiled. “Actually, that sounds like a great idea.”

She visibly slumped in relief. “Good. We thought so too. Here, I’ll get you to sign these forms for now. Officer Jenny will be along soon to take you to the Trainer Registration Center to get you set up with your Altea Region Trainer’s License.”

He took the clipboard and a pen from her, and started working his way through the sheets. There were several places where it asked for him to fill out his name, but he left those blank. It wasn’t like “John Deerling” was his actual name, so it was probably okay to leave them.

“Also,” the doctor continued as he flipped through the papers. “We looked into getting you a starter Pokemon. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a hold of Professor Pine in time, but we have an alternative which we think would be better for you anyways.”

With that, the Wigglytuff who had been patiently standing at the back of the room stepped forward, a big smile on its face. “Wiggly!” it cried, bowing.

“This Wigglytuff has been trained in first aid,” the doctor explained, patting the Wigglytuff on the head. “More importantly, it’s been trained in helping with PTSD symptoms.”

“John” winced at the reminder. The psychiatrist that had come in for a consult had diagnosed him with PTSD pretty quickly after the third night in a row he’d woken up screaming from nightmares he couldn’t remember. He’d been wondering how he would deal with that once he left the hospital. As embarrassing as it was to need help with handling his emotions, he couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved as well.

“Hello, Wigglytuff, it’s nice to meet you,” he nodded to the Pokemon. But then he frowned, confused. “But can I really just take Wigglytuff on a Pokemon Journey? Don’t you need it here, if it has medical training?”

Both the doctor and Wigglytuff’s faces fell. “Well, see…that’s the thing,” the doctor slowly told him. “Wigglytuff has been trained, yes, but unfortunately it was unable to pass the exam to become an official nurse Pokemon.”

The Wigglytuff let out a sad trill, its long ears drooping.

“Wigglytuff has worked very hard, but it’s very difficult to become a nurse Pokemon. This way, it will still get to use its training to help people, even if it’s not here at this hospital,” the doctor explained. “So really, you’ll both be helping each other out.”

“John” looked at the sad Wigglytuff and immediately felt his heart go out to the poor thing. How could he possibly say no? “Well when you put it like that,” he said with a smile. Immediately Wigglytuff’s entire demeanour changed, its ears perking up and its eyes sparkling with joy. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Wigglytuff.”

The Wigglytuff bounced with glee.

The doctor sighed with relief. “Well, now that that’s all settled, here,” she handed him another form. “That’s the paperwork to register Wigglytuff as your Pokemon. You can bring it with you to the Registration Center, and they’ll help you fill it out. And here,” she placed a shiny red Pokeball onto the bedside table, “is Wigglytuff’s Pokeball. Take care of it.”

He reached over, picking up the ball and cradling it in his hands. It was so shiny and smooth he could see his reflection in it; a young man with short dark hair and fluffy white bangs stared back at him. He wasn’t sure if his hair was naturally like that or if it was dyed, but the nurses had insisted he had no roots showing, and surely they would have grown out in the period of time he’d been stuck in the hospital. There was also a bandage across his nose, covering a long cut that they had told him would probably scar. The fact that it seemed to be the only serious mark he’d keep after the beating he’d received was nothing short of a miracle, they’d told him.

“I will,” he promised them both, holding the Pokeball close to his chest. Whatever had happened to him before, whatever life he’d led that had resulted in him getting beaten and left for dead, it was probably not a good one, and he swore he’d never go back to it. This was his chance to be a new person. His chance to be  _ better _ .

“I will,” he promised himself.

 

* * *

 

The morning had started off bright and sunny, but by the time “John” followed Officer Jenny out through the front doors of the hospital, clouds had rolled in, the winds had picked up, and it was starting to feel like rain was coming. Officer Jenny squinted up at the dark sky.

“Hmm, those will probably hold out until we get to the squad car. Unfortunately I don’t have an umbrella with me,” she told him. Her Growlithe glared up at the clouds as if they had personally offended it. Wigglytuff however just concentrated on supporting “John’s” arm in case he had a sudden dizzy spell, which was kind of annoyingly overprotective but somehow nice all the same.

“This way,” Officer Jenny gestured, and then started heading towards the parking lot. “John” trailed after her, but as they moved away from the hospital, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He stiffened and turned to look back. What he saw made him gasp.

“What? Oh.” Officer Jenny turned at the sound, and she caught sight of what had startled him. “Don’t mind them, they’re all over every hospital in the region,” she sighed, as if it was no big deal that there was a huge swarm of Lampent hovering around the hospital. “It’s a normal sight. People die in hospitals all the time, so Lampent are drawn to the area. Don’t worry about them, though. They’re not interested in healthy people like you and me. Just ignore them.”

“John” tried to take her advice, following after her with his gaze focused on the ground, but he couldn’t seem to shake the chills that kept running down his spine, even as they made their way to Officer Jenny’s car and the hospital eventually slid out of view in the rearview mirror. And he  _ still _ felt like he was being watched.

High above them, floating unseen, a single Lampent trailed after the car, its yellow eyes fixed firmly on the passenger seat.

 

* * *

 

“And here we are!” Officer Jenny announced proudly as she threw open the doors of the Registration Center. She led him into the well-lit lobby, her Growlithe walking faithfully at her side. “John” took a moment to look around the room as he followed her towards the front desk. There were rows and rows of booths where office workers were talking to applicants, filing paperwork, taking ID photos, and talking amongst themselves. A pair of Pidove darted above everyone’s heads, carrying folders and documents from one side of the room to another, while a Machop walked behind an office worker with a tall stack of boxes in its arms. There were groups of benches along the edges of the room filled with people waiting to be called up to a booth. Most of them looked to be young adults waiting to get their first trainers license, but there were a few older people sitting as well, so “John” didn’t feel too out of place.

His attention, as well as everyone else’s from the way everyone looked over, was suddenly drawn towards a young person standing at one of the booths in the far corner. They seemed to be having an argument with the clerk, and their voice grew louder the more upset they became.

“You don’t understand, I  _ need _ to have a licence already!” the person shouted, slamming their palm onto the lip of the desk in fury.

“I don’t care,” the clerk said with the air of someone who had been repeating themselves for a while. His voice was just as loud and annoyed as the young person. He held up a card between his fingers and gave them a flat look. “This is  _ clearly _ not your trainer card from Kanto – either you faked it or you stole it – but either way the law in  _ this _ region is clear. You can’t get your Pokemon Trainer’s License until you’re fifteen. You’re too young, kid, go home.”

“But – ”

“No buts,” the man cut the person off. “You’re too young to get a license here. End of story.”

The person wilted, clearly recognizing that they weren’t going to sway the clerk, no matter how much they shouted. “Isn’t there  _ anything _ I can do?”

“You can get a permit, that’s it,” the clerk sighed grudgingly, clearly fed up. “But for that, you’d need an adult trainer, someone over the age of 21, to be travelling with you, and to co-sign the paperwork. Do you know anyone…?”

The person let out a dejected groan, and turned away from the booth, defeated. Around the room everyone started to turn back to what they had been doing, recognizing that the show was over, but “John” had frozen in place. The person had turned around, turned towards him, and he  _ knew _ that face.

“Matt?” he called out without hesitation, even though he hadn’t known that name a moment before. The person’s head whipped up, staring at him with wide eyes from behind an oversized pair of glasses. “Wait…” he trailed off as he realized that while the face looked familiar, it wasn’t  _ quite _ what he had remembered. This person wasn’t Matt, whoever Matt was to him. He didn’t actually recognize them.

But the person seemed to recognize  _ him _ , because they goggled at him in shock, jaw hanging open. “Oh my god,  _ Shiro _ ?!” they gasped.

It was like a switch had been flipped in his head. Hearing that name suddenly brought a whole flood of memories rushing back. Shiro _ , Shiro _ , that was him! He was Takashi Shirogane of the Kanto Region, born and raised there, and he’d been on his Pokemon journey along with his best friend Matt. They’d set off together, leaving behind Matt’s younger sister Katie, planning to take on the Gym Challenge together. Flashes of memories raced through his mind, everything from his childhood to school to camping out with Matt under the stars. It wasn’t everything, no, but it was  _ something _ . More importantly, he remembered his  _ name _ .

When he came back to reality, he found himself sitting on one of the benches, with Wigglytuff standing in front of him making soothing noises while Officer Jenny sat beside him and rubbed circles into his back. He hadn’t even realized he’d let Wigglytuff out of its pokeball. He lifted his head and blinked at the small crowd that seemed to have formed around him.

“I’m okay,” he choked out hoarsely. “I’m okay.”

“What just happened?” Officer Jenny asked him sternly, though her hand never left his back. “You suddenly collapsed. Your doctors never mentioned that could happen to me.”

“Sorry, I just…I just remembered something. A lot of somethings,” he added ruefully. “I promise I’m okay now.”

“Shiro?” a quiet voice piped up, and he whipped his head up to see the young person from before standing in front of him, looking worried and sullen. Now that he was looking at her up close, he could recognize Katie, despite the new haircut, boyish clothes, and glasses. He smiled at her.

“Hey, Katie,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”

“You know each other?” Officer Jenny prodded, her eyes darting between them.

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. “We grew up in the same town back in Kanto. Her older brother and I went on our journey together. I’ve known her since she was a baby.”

Officer Jenny’s eyebrows rose towards her hairline. “I thought you couldn’t remember  _ anything _ . A lot of somethings, indeed,” she scoffed. “Well, did you get a name along with those memories? It’ll make the paperwork a lot easier.”

“Takashi Shirogane,” he told her firmly, proudly.  _ God _ it felt good to have a real name. “But you can call me Shiro if you’d like.”

“Well, alright then, Shiro. If you feel okay to walk, let’s get your license ready,” she said, standing and offering him a hand up.

“ _ Our _ licenses,” Shiro corrected her, even as he took her hand and stood.

She raised an eyebrow again. “ _ Our _ ? What do you mean,  _ our _ ?”

Shiro clamped his free hand down on Katie’s shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “The man said she could have a license if an adult trainer travelled with her and co-signed her paperwork, right? Well, I’m an adult. I’ll do it.”

“R-really?” Katie gaped. “B-but, Shiro!”

“Are you sure?” Officer Jenny asked at the same time. “It’s a lot of hard work, mentoring a young trainer. You’ve already got your own health problems, are you sure you can handle it on top of everything else?”

“I can handle it,” Shiro insisted.  _ I hope _ , he didn’t say out loud.

His confidence grew a little when Wigglytuff squeaked, flexing its arms as if to say ‘ _ yeah, we got this!’ _ It was nice to see his new partner so ready to support him, even though they had barely gotten to know each other. He gave Wigglytuff a grateful smile.

“Okay then,” Officer Jenny said with a shrug. “Come with me, we’ll get you  _ both _ sorted out.”

She walked back towards the front desk. Shiro started to follow her when he realized that Katie wasn’t moving, stuck frozen staring up at him. He looked back at her and gave her a confused frown.

“Katie?” he called.

“We thought you were dead,” she murmured. As Shiro watched, tears started gathering in the corners of her eyes. “Everyone said you were dead. But you’re not. You’re okay. And if  _ you’re _ okay, then…” She suddenly shuddered, sniffing loudly, and then Shiro found himself holding an armful of crying teenager. He wheezed from the impact of her slamming into him a little too hard, but he still instinctively brought his arms up in a protective hug. Wigglytuff covered her other side, patting her back consolingly.

“It’s okay,” Shiro whispered to her, though he had no idea why she was upset. “It’s going to be okay.”

She just cried and clutched him tighter.

 

* * *

 

“Man, Vaporeon, I can’t wait until we make it to the next town,” Lance groaned, hitching his backpack a little more firmly on his back. “Next time, remind me to spring for the coach bus. I know I want to save up for a new costume, but there’s no way in hell this walk is worth it.”

Vaporeon just let out a sad moan in agreement, its tail dragging gloomily along in the dirt. The dusty road leading through the countryside and on to the next city seemed to stretch out forever in front of them, with no end in sight and nothing to break up the monotony but patches of woodland or the occasional random large rock.

But just then a tree next to them suddenly seemed to explode into a cloud of bark and splinters.  The pair both yelped and jumped back in fear, wincing as they were peppered with splinters of wood. “Hey! What the heck?!” Lance shouted as soon as the dust cleared, furiously rubbing at his face to clear his vision.

“Shoot, are you okay?” A young man appeared ahead of them out of the small thicket next to the road, a concerned expression on his face. He was covered in dirt and his clothes were patchy and roughed up, and a Skarmory hovered sheepishly at his shoulder.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” Lance snapped, trying to hide the way his heart was still pounding and his hands were shaking with adrenaline. “You could have hurt someone!”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize there was a path back here,” the man tried to explain. “Skarmory and I were just working on aiming, and it’s…not going well.”

“No kidding! You could have killed me and Vaporeon,” Lance growled. “What is wrong with you?”

Immediately the man’s face twisted from concerned to annoyed. “Hey, I said I was sorry! It was an accident!”

“No, it was  _ stupid _ ,” Lance shot back. “What kind of idiot doesn’t check for pedestrians before attacking trees? Also, look at the damage you did to the tree! That’s just reckless. And not very environmentally friendly.”

The man flushed bright red, going from annoyed to furious in about two seconds flat. “What the hell is your problem? I didn’t ask you for advice! Besides, what the hell would you know, that Vaporeon of yours looks like it couldn’t pop a bubble!”

“You take that back!” Lance snarled. “Vaporeon could kick your stupid Skarmory’s ass in under a minute!”

“Prove it,” the man hissed, and just like that the gauntlet had been thrown. Even though Lance was a Coordinator, not a Trainer by any stretch of the imagination, he still knew his way around a Pokemon Battle, and he was determined to make this stuck-up asshole regret ever running into them. The two of them moved further away from the path, searching for a wide-open space to have their match. The moment they found a good spot, they turned and faced each other.

“One Pokemon each, first to knock out their opponent wins?” Lance asked, using the most basic rules of a Pokemon Battle that he knew.

“Sounds fair to me,” the man grunted.

They didn’t have a referee to count down the match start, so Lance just pointed towards the opponent. “Vaporeon, go! Hit it with an Ice Beam!”

Vaporeon yipped in agreement, already charging up. But when it fired the beam, the Skarmory beat its powerful wings, rising into the air and out of the range of the beam’s path.

“Again!” Lance ordered, undeterred.

“Skarmory, use Sand Attack and then Steel Wing. Hit it right between the eyes!” the man ordered. The Skarmory screeched a battle cry and dived, swerving from side to side to avoid Vaporeon’s blasts. At the last second before it could crash into the ground it levelled out, zooming past Vaporeon and dragging a large cloud of dust in its wake. Vaporeon cried out as it was suddenly blinded by the attack.

“Now, Skarmory,” the man said, and the Skarmory’s wings began to glow.

“Look out, Vaporeon!” Lance screamed, but it was too late. The Skarmory collided with Vaporeon, slapping it across the face with its glowing wings, and Vaporeon fell back with a pained yelp. When the dust settled, Vaporeon was lying on its back in a daze, and Skarmory was soaring overhead, screeching in victory.

Lance cursed and ran to his Pokemon’s side. “Vee, are you okay?” he crooned, gathering Vaporeon into his arms. “Come on, Vee, talk to me!”

“Veeee,” Vaporeon groaned, snuggling against him. “Vee, vee.”

Even though Vaporeon sounded exhausted, Lance still slumped in relief. His Vaporeon would be okay. Satisfied that it just needed a rest and a visit to the Pokemon Center, he whirled on the Trainer.

He was ready to give the guy a piece of his mind, but when he turned around, the Trainer was already there, holding out a Super Potion with a worried expression back on his face. “Is it okay?” he asked. “I’m sorry, I know Skarmory can hit pretty hard.”

“Yeah, well,” Lance huffed, snatching the spray bottle out of the Trainer’s hands and starting to apply the medicine to Vaporeon’s scrapes. “Next time will be different. You’ll see.”

The Trainer’s expression soured, but at least he didn’t argue, instead stepping back to give Lance room.

After Lance had finished patching up as much of Vaporeon as he could, he returned it to its Pokeball and stood. Only then did he glance back towards the path nervously. If he remembered correctly, he still had about an hour’s walk to go before he reached town, and he’d have to travel through forest the whole way.

“Ah man, what the heck am I going to do now?” he groaned, inwardly cursing himself. He should have known better than to challenge a random Trainer and let Vaporeon get injured. Now what would he do if he got attacked by wild Pokemon? He didn’t exactly carry around Repells.

“What’s wrong?” the Trainer asked. “Don’t tell me that was your only Pokemon.”

“No, no, I have a few others,” Lance quickly snapped, defensive. But then he let his shoulders slump. “Only, they’re all trained for Contests, not battling. I don’t know how strong the Pokemon in the forest are.”

“Wait, you’re a Coordinator?” the trainer asked, sounding surprised. “No wonder you were so bad.”

“Hey!” Lance yelled. “Excuse me, at least I know how to aim an attack at a Pokemon instead of people!”

The Trainer visibly tensed, ready to fight again, before suddenly letting out a frustrated sigh and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “Look, you lost, get over it,” he said simply, making Lance bristle. “I’m sorry I beat up your one battling Pokemon, but you can’t go through those woods without protection. There are Snorlax in there, and it’s getting close to mating season. If one of those things finds you, you’ll be torn apart in seconds.”

“Well what the heck am I supposed to do, then?” Lance grunted. “Stay here?”

“I’ll walk you to town,” the Trainer said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not that far, and I need to pick up some more supplies anyways.”

“I’m not going anywhere with  _ you _ ,” Lance growled without even thinking about it.

The Trainer simply raised an eyebrow. “You’d rather stay here and get eaten by a Snorlax? Be my guest.” Then the jerk had the audacity to watch Lance squirm for a minute, trying to come up with some other solution.

“…fine,” Lance eventually grumbled when he realized he had no other choice. “But the second we get back to town, we part ways and never speak again, agreed?”

“Deal,” the trainer smirked, holding out his hand. “I’m Keith, by the way,” he added as Lance gave his hand a shake. “Considering we’re going to be stuck together for the next hour or so.”

“Lance,” Lance responded bluntly, refusing to say more than he needed to.

“Lance, huh,” Keith repeated consideringly. “Well I suppose it’s better than whiny kid.” He started walking, ignoring the way Lance spluttered and swore. “Come on, we should get moving. The sooner we get to town the sooner we can never see each other again.”

“Well when you put it like  _ that _ ,” Lance muttered, reluctantly trudging after Keith.

 

* * *

 

Deep in the forest, just out of sight of the path, a pair of glowing eyes like swirling nebulae watched the two boys as they began their trek through the trees. The eyes fixated on the tanned boy in the back, and the body hidden in shadows wiggled in anticipation and glee.

_ I found one! I found one! _

It did a quick victory dance, and then with barely a rustle of leaves, it vanished into the trees, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.


	2. The Scientist's Daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this chapter before I go away for a few weeks, so there won't be anything new until at least beginning of July, but I wanted to make sure I got the next chapter out before season 6 drops. Here's hoping it's another awesome season!

The skies had finally opened by the time they were finished getting their licenses, so Shiro and Katie stood together on the front step of the Registration Center, staring out into the rain. Wigglytuff had been returned to its pokeball for a rest. Katie was holding onto her permit like it was made of solid gold, shaking slightly, but Shiro was starting to get tired. He was still recovering after all, and he knew he’d need to rest soon. So he pulled out the map of Garrison City the friendly staff of the Registration Center had given him, and started searching it for the Pokemon Center. He was relieved to see that it was relatively close, though they’d still get thoroughly soaked if they walked in the rain.

“So,” Shiro prompted as he tucked the map away in his jacket pocket, making a mental note to buy new clothes as soon as he earned some money. It was nice that the hospital had tried to fix up the clothes he’d been found in to the best of their ability, but they hadn’t been very successful, and it seemed like they were more patch than fabric now. “We’ll need to sort out your starter soon, but why don’t we head to the Pokemon Center to get some food and some rest first?” he suggested.

“Okay,” Katie replied in a small voice, not looking up at him. Shiro felt a twinge of concern, but he knew better than to press the issue now. They could talk when they had food in their bellies and a warm place to sleep.

He led the way through the town, the streets mostly empty due to the rain, only pausing once or twice to check the map to make sure he knew where he was going. When the cheery red rooftop of the Pokemon Center came into view up the road, Shiro sighed in relief, picking up his pace just that little bit more. Thankfully Katie seemed just as eager to be out of the rain, as she jogged along with him.

They burst into the Pokemon Center with a spray of water, creating a huge puddle on the floor. Luckily the staff seemed to be prepared for this, because there was already a wet floor sign just beside the entrance, and an Audino with a nurse’s cap was carefully mopping up. It chirped a greeting at them as they entered, and then returned to its work.

“Welcome to the Pokemon Center,” the Nurse Joy at the front desk said, beckoning them over. “How may we help you today?”

“Do you have any double rooms free?” Shiro asked, trying not to drip on the counter and all over the nurse’s paperwork. Katie didn’t seem to care, leaning against the countertop and leaving splatters of water everywhere from her sopping hair.

Nurse Joy didn’t seem bothered, though, just smiling and nodding. “We do! I can set you up with one right now if you’ll just show me your licenses. Thank you!” She took their new cards from them, swiping them through the card reader attached to her computer and then starting to type away. After a few seconds she looked back up and smiled, handing their cards back. “There we go. You’ll be in room 205, just upstairs, here are your key cards. Dinner won’t be served for another hour, unfortunately, but we have vending machines in that corner there if you’re looking for a snack. Do you need me to heal your Pokemon as well at this time?”

“No, we’re okay,” Shiro said, patting Wigglytuff’s pokeball in his pocket to assure himself that it was there. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Nurse Joy said with a bow. “Please come back if you have any questions.”

“We will,” Shiro promised her, and then he led the way towards the elevators along the back wall, Katie trudging behind him quietly. She’d barely spoken since he’d held her as she cried, only speaking when spoken to and answering questions with the bare minimum of words. Shiro was definitely concerned now.

He pushed open the door to their room, holding it open for her, and studying her as she walked by. She made a beeline for the far bed, sitting on it heavily and letting out a tired sigh.

“Okay,” Shiro said, letting the door close behind him. Instead of sitting on the other bed, he grabbed the room’s lone chair and dragged it over so he could sit beside her. “Katie. What’s going on? What…what happened?”

She peeked up at him from behind her long shaggy bangs, looking slightly lost. “Shouldn’t I ask you that? You guys went missing,” she whispered. “You were gone for so long, everyone thought you were  _ dead _ .”

“Who? Who went missing? Katie,” Shiro distractedly ran a hand through his hair, fighting back frustration. He debated about letting Wigglytuff out of its pokeball, just in case, but decided to wait. Wigglytuff wasn’t exactly a small Pokemon, and the room was already pretty tight. “I’ll be honest, I’m starting to remember things, but not much. Before I saw you, I didn’t even remember my own name.”

She studied him with a wrinkled nose. “Well what  _ do _ you remember, then?” she asked.

Shiro paused, thinking about it. His memories, even though they were back, were still a jumbled mess, and it was hard to sort through them. “I remember…my name, obviously. And that your family and mine grew up together. Your dad is…a Pokemon Professor, right?”

Katie nodded encouragingly.

“You have an older brother Matt who’s my age. We started our Pokemon journeys together when we turned 18, and we were travelling together…I honestly don’t remember much else,” he finished weakly. There was more, he knew there was more, but he couldn’t get his brain unscrambled enough to make sense of it. He couldn’t even remember which starter he’d picked. But surely he’d had one, hadn’t he? What had happened to his team? Why weren’t they with him when he was attacked?

He wanted to ask Katie, but she was already speaking. “Yes, that’s right. You guys were both doing really well on your Gym Challenge, although Matt was always insisting he preferred research to battling. The last we heard from you, you guys were in Viridian City, ready to take on the Gym there. You called us from the Pokemon Center, telling us about it, and then…we never heard from you again.” She sniffed wetly, rubbing at her eyes with her sleeve behind her glasses. “Dad went looking, of course. He raised a big stink about it, got everyone searching for you. But then  _ he _ went missing too, and suddenly the police were being vague about the investigation and refusing to respond to my mom’s calls, and I  _ knew _ something was up. So I decided that if no one else was going to find them, then  _ I _ was.”

“So you came to the  _ Altea Region _ to look for us?” Shiro gawked. “Why on earth would you start your search  _ here _ ?” Even though that was somehow exactly where he’d ended up, there was no way she could have predicted that.

“I didn’t,” she quickly explained. “I came here first because Altea has the youngest age to get Trainer’s Licenses, and I knew I’d need to be a trainer if I wanted to have any hope of actually finding my family. But I’m  _ still _ too young, and Matt’s old ID didn’t fool them at all, even though I tried to make myself look like him,” she huffed. Shiro fought back the urge to laugh. Even though she looked absolutely adorable when she pouted, he was pretty sure Katie wouldn’t appreciate it right now.

“Does your mom know you’re here?” Shiro asked as soon as he knew he could speak without laughing.

“Of course,” Katie said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not  _ cruel _ . She’s already had her son and her husband go missing, could you imagine if she thought she’d lost me too?”

“And she’s  _ okay _ with you being here?” Shiro raised an eyebrow.

Katie immediately looked sheepish. “Well,  _ no _ . But I didn’t exactly ask her permission, either.”

“Let me guess,” Shiro smirked, recalling some of the shenanigans Katie had gotten up to when they were younger. “You left without warning and didn’t even tell her you were gone until you were already here, and by that point it was too late for her to stop you.”

Katie’s wince told him he was spot-on. It was nice to see that even if his memory was pretty patchy, he still knew Katie well enough to predict her actions.

“Well, what’s done is done, I suppose,” he sighed.

“She’ll feel better when she hears I’m travelling with you, too,” Katie added, tugging at her sleeves nervously. “And I  _ know _ she’ll be happy to see you. She was pretty upset about you being missing too, you know.”

Mrs. Holt had practically been a second mother to him, so he had an idea of what Katie meant. He nodded slowly. “We’ll call her after dinner, how does that sound?”

Katie hummed in agreement, looking slightly more cheerful now that she wasn’t in trouble. “And after that, we can get me a starter, right?” she asked, perking right up.

Shiro nodded in agreement. “Sure. Maybe we can ask Nurse Joy downstairs if she can recommend a good breeder in the city. Do you have anything in mind?”

Katie practically  _ beamed  _ at him, and Shiro realized he’d woken a monster.

He listened to her rant about the different Pokemon species native to the area that would make good starters, listing their types, strengths, weaknesses, and rarity for close to half an hour. Eventually he had to cut her off when his stomach growled, and he decided to get some food. Katie hardly seemed to care though, still talking wistfully about a Metang her father had brought home from the lab once that she’d wanted to keep as her own.

As they stepped into the elevator, Shiro cut Katie off mid-sentence with a hand on her shoulder. She paused, looking up at him questioningly.

“Listen. I don’t want to scare you, but there’s clearly something going on right now, something serious.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Whatever it is, it’s resulted in your dad and brother going missing, and me being attacked and left for dead on the other side of the planet. I’m going to do my best to protect you and keep you safe, but maybe we should take some precautions.”

To his relief, she didn’t argue. “Like what?” she asked, her eyes serious.

“I don’t think I’m that recognizable, but you look a lot like your brother and dad. Maybe we should call you something other than Katie, just so people don’t automatically associate you with Professor Holt,” Shiro suggested. Then, glancing at her baggy clothes, a further idea popped into his head. “Actually, maybe we should disguise you as a boy as well.”

Katie looked down at her clothes and then back up at him, smirking. “No complaints here,” she scoffed. “I hate dresses.”

“We can come up with a name over dinner,” Shiro offered as the elevator let out a chime and the doors rolled open.

“No need. I already came up with one to go with Matt’s ID,” Katie grinned, pulling out the card in question from her pocket. “I didn’t want to steal Matt’s name, just his image.”

Shiro squinted down at the card, baffled. He was mildly impressed with the quality of it; if he hadn’t already known it was altered, he might not have been able to detect it. “Pidge Gunderson? Really?”

Immediately the smirk dropped from her face and she snatched the card away from him. “Shut up,” she grunted, grumbling and stomping towards the dining area while Shiro gave in to his laughter.

“Excuse me!” Nurse Joy suddenly called out from the front counter. Shiro looked up at her, noticing it was him she was speaking to.

“Yes?” he asked, walking over.

“I’m sorry, sir, but it looks like you accidentally left one of your Pokemon here when you went upstairs,” she said worriedly. “It’s been waiting here for you ever since.”

“One of my Pokemon?” Shiro repeated, confused. He only had one, didn’t he? And unless Wigglytuff had somehow jumped out of its pokeball without him noticing, it had definitely been with him the entire time. He checked his pockets for the pokeball just to be certain, and sure enough it was still there.

Nurse Joy must have thought he was confused about which one, though, because she pointed towards the ceiling. “That one,” she clarified. “It’s been floating up there since you and your friend walked in.”

Shiro followed her finger, and almost immediately went pale when he saw where she was pointing. “T-that’s not mine,” he wheezed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

“Shiro?” Katie – no, Pidge called out, turning to look at him over her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“It followed me,” Shiro said weakly, still staring up at the Pokemon floating above him. It was staring back at him just as intently with its glowing yellow eyes. “Why did it follow me?”

“What’s that?” Pidge frowned, and then she looked up as well. Her eyes went wide. “Is that a Lampent? What’s it doing here?”

“It must have followed me from the hospital,” Shiro whispered. Its blue flame flickered as if in agreement, and it floated a little closer. “Why?”

Pidge looked at the Lampent, then to Shiro, then back to the Lampent again. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she stared the thing down. “Shiro, let out Wigglytuff.”

He managed to break eye contact with the Lampent just long enough to look down at her. “Wha…?”

“Shiro,” she repeated much more firmly, staring him down. “Let. Out. Wigglytuff.”

“Is everything okay?” Nurse Joy asked nervously, finally catching on that something wasn’t right.

“Everything will be fine in a moment,” Pidge assured her. Then, “Shiro!” she shouted.

Shiro jolted, and then immediately dug Wigglytuff’s pokeball out of his pocket and tossed it into the air. Wigglytuff appeared in a burst of light, shaking out its long ears.

“Wigglytuff,” Pidge ordered. “Can you get rid of that Lampent?”

Wigglytuff immediately took stock of the situation, spotting Shiro quietly freaking out and the Lampent that seemed to be the cause, and nodded. It puffed up, beginning to gather energy in its mouth.

“No fighting in the Pokemon Center!” Nurse Joy suddenly shrieked, breaking Wigglytuff’s concentration and making everyone jump. “If it’s a wild Pokemon, we will chase it off ourselves! We don’t want the damages that come from a Pokemon battle!” She gave them all a scolding glare.

Immediately Wigglytuff and Pidge winced. “Oops. Sorry,” Pidge said sheepishly. Wigglytuff cooed in agreement.

Nurse Joy stared them down for another minute with her hands on her hips before shaking her head. “Why don’t you take the gentleman to the dining hall to get him some food? He looks pretty pale. Audino and I will deal with the Lampent.”

Wigglytuff didn’t need any further prompting, immediately rushing to Shiro’s side and singing to him softly. Shiro, who had been frozen in fear, shuddered at the sound of the song and slowly relaxed. Wigglytuff led him by the hand towards the smell of food, still singing, while Pidge followed them after shooting the Lampent a dark glare over her shoulder.

The Lampent watched them go with its unblinking eyes, but did not follow.

 

* * *

 

Lance was just walking towards the front cash, bolts of sparkling fabric and glittering packages of beads in his arms when he suddenly ran smack dab into someone who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He grunted, taking a step back, but thankfully managed to hang on to all of his purchases.

“Oh man, sorry!” an upsettingly familiar voice gasped, and Lance looked up with dread. Oh no, not  _ again,  _ he mentally groaned.

After their first disastrous meeting, Lance had foolishly believed that he’d never see Keith again. Keith was a trainer, and he was a coordinator. They ran in completely different circles, they dealt with completely different people, there was really no overlap between their two chosen professions aside from the fact that they both used Pokemon. They  _ shouldn’t _ have ever really seen each other again. And yet, once more their paths had crossed. Somehow they’d both ended up in the same store at the same time, even though they were in one of the biggest shopping malls in the city. Lance was pretty sure that some higher power was looking down on him right now and  _ laughing _ .

“Keith?” he groaned. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Wait, Lance?” the trainer blinked at him in surprise. “I, uh, well, I…”

Lance had been busy resettling his things into his arms, but when he heard the normally confident trainer start to stutter and stumble, his head whipped up. At the same time it finally registered exactly where they were. “Wait, no. What  _ are _ you doing here? This is a shop for Coordinators.”

“I know that  _ now _ ,” Keith grumbled. He ducked his head, and to Lance’s glee, he realized Keith was  _ blushing. _ “I just wanted to get a new shirt that wasn’t stained. I thought this store had regular clothes.”

Lance snorted inelegantly. “Well it  _ does _ , but not much. Geez, how did you not notice all the glitter?”

Keith looked up from behind his bangs and glared at Lance. “I  _ did _ notice, but by the time I figured out what kind of shop this was, I got turned around. I can’t find the exit.”

That was too much. Lance actually started laughing, his shoulders shaking. “Oh man, that’s just too good. You got blinded by all the sparkly stuff and got lost? Ha!”

“Shut up!” Keith snapped, already turning to stomp away, but Lance reached out and grabbed his wrist, nearly dropping his purchases in the process.

“Look, I’m headed that way anyways; I need to cash out. Just follow me to the front,” Lance offered, feeling much more generous now that this time he was in control of the situation. Grudgingly Keith nodded, and followed as Lance led the way through the racks of brightly coloured clothing towards the front.

“What is all that stuff you have, anyways?” Keith suddenly blurted out just as the entrance came into view.

“Fabric,” Lance explained patiently, stepping into line. “Some people like to buy their costumes pre-made, but my mom taught me to sew, so I make my own. It means that you have more flexibility in the design, and you can get the exact look you need, which is more than worth the extra work.”

“Oh,” Keith said quietly. There was a pause, and Lance turned to find Keith watching him with an odd expression.

“What?” he snapped, worried that there was something on his face.

“Nothing,” Keith responded, still watching Lance with that strange look, but then he seemed to shake himself. “Anyways, thanks for showing me the way out. Good luck with your costume.” And then he turned and headed for the exit, leaving Lance standing there holding a bolt of fabric, glittery beads, and feeling very wrong-footed for some reason. Lance couldn’t help but watch him go, his eyes momentarily dipping down to Keith’s backside before darting back up to his stupid caveman mullet.

“…whatever,” Lance muttered to himself, doing his best to shake off the weird feeling just as the cashier called him up.

 

* * *

 

“Well, it’s no Metang,” Shiro joked. “But what do you think?”

Pidge barely seemed to hear him, too busy staring at the small group of Pokemon in open wonder. “I really get to have one of them as my starter?” she whispered. Her hands shook as if she desperately wanted to reach out and grab one.

The breeder chuckled, his smile visible even beneath his bushy beard. “Yes, you can,” he said. Then, looking over at Shiro, he muttered “I’ll admit, this is pretty unusual. Most kids don’t want a Magnemite as their starter, but he is  _ really _ excited about this, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, h-he is,” Shiro agreed, only momentarily stumbling over the pronoun. He had to get into the habit of referring to Pidge as a boy if they wanted the disguise to work. “He’s wanted a Magnemite since he was little. His Dad’s first Pokemon was a Magnemite, I think.”

“And Mom’s was a Petilil,” Pidge confirmed, finally looking away from the Magnemite. “I think I want that one,” she said, pointing at one of the Magnemite in the swarm. Honestly, Shiro couldn’t tell them apart, but somehow both Pidge and the breeder seemed to know exactly which one she was referring to.

“A good choice,” the breeder chuckled, striding into the swarm of Electric-types and patting one of them on the head. “This is a strong one. What do you say, Magnemite? Do you want to go with this young trainer?”

The Magnemite looked up at the breeder, then to Pidge. There was a moment’s pause, and then the Magnemite beeped happily and threw itself into Pidge’s arms. She barely managed to keep herself on her feet, her glasses knocked askew.

“Oof!” she grunted, clutching at Magnemite’s round body with one hand, and fixing her glasses with the other. Then, she grinned down at it. “This is going to be  _ awesome _ ,” she swore, squeezing Magnemite tightly.

Shiro and the breeder left Pidge and Magnemite alone to bond while they stepped into the other room to sort out more paperwork and to pay the adoption fee. The breeder confessed that he didn’t usually have young trainers asking for his Magnemites for starters, just researchers and power plant workers, so he was willing to offer them a bit of a discount because he knew they were just starting out. Shiro, who had very little money earned yet, was grateful for the man’s kindness.

They left the man’s home about twenty minutes later with a cheerful Magnemite floating circles around Pidge’s head while Pidge jumped and skipped down the path, a pokeball clenched in one fist. Shiro and Wigglytuff watched the pair of them bouncing around, sharing an amused look between them, and followed along at a much more sedate pace. Shiro was just happy that Pidge was happy.

And then she caught sight of a man wearing heavy biker gear and carrying a set of pokeballs on his hip, and she immediately ran towards him. “Hey mister, you wanna battle?” Pidge called out.

Shiro immediately paled. “Oh no, what have I done?” he groaned. Wigglytuff just patted him sympathetically on the hand as they watched Pidge try to beat a man twice her age with way more experience and Pokemon. This was going to be a rough day.

 

* * *

 

“Really, Pidge,” Shiro repeated for the third time, “you don’t have to buy me anything! You earned that money by winning that battle all by yourself, you should spend it on something  _ you _ want.”

“Well  _ I  _ want to buy you some new clothes,” Pidge responded, just as exasperated. “I owe you for helping me get my license after all. Besides, you look like a hobo, Shiro. I can’t be seen travelling with you like that.”

“Hey!”

Pidge stuck her tongue out at him, before she suddenly caught sight of something that made her eyes go wide with delight. “Ooh, there!” she announced, grabbing Shiro by the wrist and dragging him towards one of the shops across the street, narrowly avoiding getting them run down by a Tauros and its rider. Shiro looked up at the store’s sign as they approached, and couldn’t help but wince. It was a clothing shop, but it looked rather expensive.

“You didn’t win  _ that _ much from the biker,” Shiro weakly tried to argue, but Pidge just ignored him, bursting into the store with a determined grin on her face. Shiro could do nothing but follow her, feeling like this would not end well.

But to his surprise, Pidge moved through the store with the ease of long practice, leading Shiro past the racks of brightly coloured but expensive new merchandise to a shadowy corner in the back. Here, faded signs declared all clearance items were 50% off of the red tag. The selection was much more drab and picked-over than the clothing at the front of the store, but at least the price tags didn’t make Shiro want to run out of the place screaming.

“Here,” Pidge suddenly announced, and Shiro turned just in time to have a stack of clothes shoved in his arms. He barely managed to grab them before Pidge let go and started pushing him towards the change rooms. “I had to guess your size, but there should be something in there that fits. You’re the same height as my dad, right? The pants should be long enough then, but I’m not sure about the waist size so I just grabbed a few. Try it on, try it on!”

Shiro wasn’t sure that he’d be allowed into the fitting room with so many items, but the bored shop clerk barely even glanced at his pile while she unlocked the stall for him. Once inside, Shiro carefully started laying out the clothing that Pidge had given him, sorting it between shirts and pants, until he could start to see what he had to work with.

Twenty minutes later, Shiro followed Pidge out of the store in a brand new set of clothes, with a second change of clothes tucked safely away in the bottom of his bag. He’d been a bit concerned with how monochrome and dark his picks were, but Pidge had insisted that it meant they’d last longer, especially out in the wilderness when they had to camp out between towns. Shiro couldn’t argue with that logic. Though he tried to argue about who would pay for the clothes. Although they were all on sale, all together it was still a fair amount of money to spend, but Pidge wouldn’t hear of it. She even ordered Magnemite to block Shiro from trying to pay, which Magnemite cheerfully complied with. Those two were going to be trouble, Shiro could already tell.

“Thank you,” Shiro said sincerely as they stepped back out onto the sidewalk. “I really do appreciate it.”

“I told you, it’s fine,” Pidge waved him off. “Besides, we can – ”

Someone screamed.

“Help! Help! Thief!” a woman cried from behind them. As one, Shiro and Pidge turned just in time to see a man in a strange purple uniform running towards them, a sack clenched in one fist and a dark smirk on his face that was partially hidden by his drawn up hood. Behind him the woman was still screaming and pointing, looking absolutely distraught.

Shiro didn’t even have time to think. He just moved.

As the man in purple drew up next to them, Shiro’s arm shot out, grabbing the back of the man’s shirt. The world spun and blurred for a moment, and the next thing he knew, he had the man in purple pinned beneath him in a hold, struggling and helpless. The sack had fallen to the ground, spilling pokeballs all across the sidewalk. Pidge was already scrambling to gather them up before they rolled out into the street.

“Oh, thank you,  _ thank you _ ,” the woman sobbed as she ran up to them. “He just came out of nowhere and stole my Skitty’s pokeball. I thought I was never going to catch him! You’re a hero!”

Beneath Shiro, the man grunted and swore, but he still couldn’t seem to get free.

“Here, which pokeball was it? It looks like he’s stolen a few of them.” Pidge quickly drew the woman’s attention, but not before shooting Shiro a strange look. The woman was happy to search through the collection for her missing Pokemon, and soon enough a police officer arrived, likely called by one of the other shoppers watching the spectacle. The officer let out a low whistle when he saw the man Shiro was still holding down.

“You Team Galra folk are still causing trouble, huh?” the officer scoffed at the man. “Haven’t you learned better yet? You’re nothing but troublemakers.”

“Team Galra?” Shiro asked, moving back so that the officer could get a pair of handcuffs around the man’s wrists. The man continued to struggle, but between Shiro, the officer, and his Growlithe, he was restrained soon enough. The officer started leading him towards his squad car, Shiro trailing behind.

“You haven’t heard of Team Galra?” the officer asked, sounding surprised. “They’re a huge problem here in the Altea Region. They steal Pokemon, threaten and attack people, and generally make a mess. Most of them are just grunts like this guy, but the higher-ups are even worse. We haven’t been able to successfully prove anything yet, but there are rumors that they’re even responsible for the previous Champion’s death.” Seeing the way Shiro went a bit pale, the officer quickly tried to backtrack. “I mean, that’s just a rumor though! Mostly they’re just troublemakers, nothing to be worried about! We’ll get them all eventually, don’t you worry!”

Pidge saved the officer from making an even bigger mess by bringing over the sack full of pokeballs. “Here,” she announced, holding them out to the Growlithe. “We were only able to find a few of the owners. The rest weren’t around.”

“Thank you, young man,” the officer told Pidge, giving her a nod. “We’ll take care of the rest.”

Pidge and Shiro stood back as the officer loaded the man and the sack into his car, and then drove off. Only once he was gone and the crowd of onlookers had mostly dispersed did Pidge glance up at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Since when could you do that?” she asked, her voice strangely flat.

“I don’t know,” Shiro told her truthfully. “I didn’t know I could.”

She watched him for a moment longer, but didn’t say anything. Eventually they started walking along the sidewalk again, but this time it was in silence.


	3. Making Connections

Both Lance and his Vaporeon looked up hopefully when the Pokemon Center’s automatic door slid open, briefly letting in the howling winds and rain from the storm outside. He had been waiting for the girl from the Contest Hall to drop by all day, but once again he was disappointed as he saw that the person entering was distinctively male. Worse, Lance knew that stupid haircut, and he glared at the newcomer in annoyance.

“Oh, it’s  _ you _ ,” he grunted, just loud enough to be heard from the entrance. The newcomer’s head whipped up, water flying from his dripping shaggy hair, and he groaned as well.

“Oh come  _ on _ , I don’t need this today,” Keith muttered to himself, rubbing his face with his hand. His gloves were just as soaked from the storm as the rest of him, though, so all he ended up doing was smearing rainwater all over his cheeks. “As if this storm wasn’t bad enough.”

“What, can’t handle a little water, Keith?” Lance smirked up at him, Vaporeon mimicking him perfectly without even prompting.

“I don’t see  _ you _ out in that mess,” Keith growled, stomping past Lance in squelching shoes and heading for the counter. His shoes squeaked comically against the tiled floor as he walked, and he almost slipped once or twice, making Lance snicker into his fist. Vaporeon let out a little snigger as well, crawling into Lance’s lap to watch Keith struggling to walk.

Lance had to admit, though, as he watched Keith speaking quietly to the nurse on duty and handing over his pokeballs, that even though Keith always managed to piss him off whenever they ran into each other, which was still happening way too often for some reason, he was kind of glad the trainer had shown up. Lance had been starting to get bored and depressed waiting for the Contest Hall girl to come when she clearly wasn’t planning to show up, and it was nice to have something else to focus on now. At least now he had some entertainment.

The nurse eventually took Keith’s pokeballs and vanished into the back room to heal them, leaving Keith standing at the counter. This late at night and with such a terrible storm raging outside, there weren’t many other people loitering in the Pokemon Center; just a couple of travelling trainers waiting for their own Pokemon to finish being healed and a young boy playing with an elderly looking Raticate in the corner. Pretty much all of the chairs in the waiting room were empty, so Lance was a little surprised when Keith walked back over and flopped down in the seat right next to Lance, nearly knocking his Vaporeon out of his lap.

“Hey!” Lance yelped, tightening his hold around Vaporeon’s middle. Vaporeon let out its own indignant yip as well, shooting Keith a nasty glare.

To Lance’s surprise, instead of making some sort of gruff comment, Keith immediately winced. “Sorry,” he mumbled sincerely, shifting over in his seat a little to give Vaporeon a bit more room.

Lance had been about to give Keith a piece of his mind, ready to get their usual banter going, but Keith’s subdued reaction caught him off guard. He paused for a moment to actually  _ look _ at Keith, and he realized that Keith looked absolutely  _ exhausted _ . In the bright overhead lights, the bags under his eyes were clearly visible, and his skin was alarmingly pale. It probably didn’t help that his clothes were absolutely soaked through. Immediately Lance’s desire to pick a fight dissolved like a Wheezing’s breath in a strong wind, and he couldn’t help but rest a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Hey, man, are you okay?” he asked quietly, concerned. “You don’t look so good.”

Keith glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, as if searching for some kind of trick or trap. But when Lance didn’t pull his hand away and yell ‘syke!’ or do anything antagonistic, he slumped further into his seat with a tired sigh.

“I spent the last three weeks training in the woods for this Gym battle, and I  _ still _ almost lost. The leader knocked out half my team before I could even take out  _ one _ of theirs. It was a nightmare,” Keith said tiredly, rubbing at his face again. At least he’d had the forethought to take his gloves off by now, so this time he didn’t soak his face again. “I was so sure we were ready!”

“But you won?” Lance prompted, picking up on what he was pretty sure was the key point there. Keith wordlessly lifted the flap of his jacket, revealing a shiny new gym badge pinned to the inner lining, along with several others. It seemed that Keith had picked up a few badges since the last time Lance had seen him. It left Lance aching with this strange combination of jealousy and pride. He himself had only picked up a single ribbon since their last meeting, and even though Keith didn’t know that, Lance still felt like he was being mocked.

At the same time, Lance had heard rumors about the Gym Leader of this city while he was participating in the Contest Hall. He’d heard that it was a really tough gym, and that most trainers failed several times before finally earning a badge. That Keith had won his badge on his first try, even with extra training, was really remarkable. Lance couldn’t help but be just as impressed as he was annoyed.

“So yeah, you won,” Lance said flatly, biting on the inside of his cheek to avoid saying something mean. Keith was too tired; it wouldn’t be worth it to start a fight now, he told himself.

“I guess,” Keith agreed tiredly, not showing nearly enough enthusiasm for his win in Lance’s opinion. Lance himself usually threw himself an impromptu dance party every time he won a ribbon. But then again, Keith kind of looked like death warmed over right now. Maybe he’d be more excited once he’d had a chance to sleep.

With that in mind, Lance decided to be the bigger person for once, and took pity on Keith. The other trainer looked like he desperately needed a good night’s sleep, and Lance, out of the goodness of his own heart, was willing to lend a hand. “You got a place to stay tonight?” he asked casually, very carefully not making eye contact with Vaporeon. He knew his Pokemon would be squinting at him judgingly if he dared look, and he knew he’d lose his nerve if he saw it. “Because this Center has a couple of rooms for rent, and I managed to snag one. I’m pretty sure there’s a spare bed if you’re interested.”

“I…” Keith hesitated for a moment, clearly having an internal debate, and then his shoulders drooped. “Actually, yeah, that would be amazing. Beats camping out in  _ that _ mess or sleeping on the benches here.”

“Oh my god,  _ that _ was your plan for tonight? That’s pathetic, man.”

“Shut up,” Keith grumbled, struggling to his feet. Lance took the hint and stood as well, letting Vaporeon drop gracefully to the floor. Keith let Lance take the lead, and together they walked past the front desk and up a set of stairs to the second level of the Center. Lance led Keith down the hall to the second last door on the left, pulling out a key card and unlocking it with a quick swipe. The door creaked a little when Lance pushed it open, revealing a small room with barely enough space for the two twin beds shoved inside, but at least it was tidy and clean.

Keith let out a low moan of relief the moment he saw the beds, making Lance jump and blush. “Oh man, I haven’t slept on a real bed in almost a month,” Keith confessed, stumbling towards the far bed in an almost stupor. He dropped his backpack on the ground at the foot of the bed and immediately faceplanted on top of it, shoes and all.

“Hey! Don’t lie down in your wet clothes!” Lance snapped, rushing into the room to physically drag Keith off of the bed. “You’ll soak the mattress!”

Keith groaned in annoyance, but allowed himself to be pulled upright. Then, he immediately started shrugging out of his clothes, giving Lance a minor heart attack.

“What are you  _ doing _ ?!” Lance hissed, scandalized.

“Taking off my wet clothes, what does it look like?” Keith snapped, shooting Lance an annoyed look. Lance squeaked and had to turn away as Keith started pulling his t-shirt up over his head, revealing lots of pale skin and flexing muscles.

“Yeah, but you should be getting changed in the  _ bathroom _ ,” Lance argued to the wall, unable to look back at Keith. He felt his face heat up as he heard the jingle of a belt buckle being undone. Vaporeon gave him a flat look from where it was currently curled up on Lance’s bed, before tucking its muzzle under its tail as if to say ‘ _ I wash my paws of this mess’. _

“Traitor,” Lance muttered to it under his breath.

“What was that?” Keith asked distractedly.

“Nothing!” Lance quickly said. Then, recovering a bit of his annoyance, he grumbled, “But seriously though. Go change in the bathroom down the hall, not here!”

“Change into  _ what?”  _ Keith asked with a huff. “My bag is soaked through, everything is wet. I’m going to have to lay everything out to dry tonight.”

“… _ everything?” _ Lance echoed in a weak voice. “You have  _ no clothes _ ?”

“Nothing dry, anyway,” Keith clarified. Lance heard the sound of a backpack zipper, and then the rustle of Keith moving around the small room, presumably draping his wet clothes everywhere so that they could dry faster. He went stiff when he felt Keith stop right behind him. “Excuse me,” Keith said, his voice sounding oddly rough and deep to Lance’s ears for some reason.

“What?” Lance demanded. Or at least he tried to. His voice came out a bit too high to be considered forceful. He cleared his throat and tried again, his eyes still fixed firmly on the wall. “What do you want?”

“Uh, to hang my shirt on the doorknob, if that’s okay,” Keith told him slowly. Then, “Are you okay? Your voice sounds kind of funny, and you’re looking a bit flushed. Also, why won’t you look at me?”

“Because you’re  _ naked _ ,” Lance grit out through clenched teeth.

He could practically  _ feel _ Keith rolling his eyes at him. “I’m still wearing underwear,” he sighed. “Besides, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, right? I thought Coordinators were all used to seeing half-naked people because you have to do all those costume changes.”

And Lance had to admit that Keith had a point; he  _ didn’t  _ care about nudity – not usually anyways – or at least he didn’t care about nudity in general. It’s  _ Keith’s _ nudity that had him all hot and bothered.

But there was no way in hell that he was going to admit that out loud, so grudgingly he slowly turned around. Keith was standing behind him, holding his soggy shirt out in one hand, with a confused frown on his face. Even though Lance tried his best to prepare himself, his mouth still went dry at the sight of Keith’s bare chest, his long legs covered by a thin pair of black boxer briefs, and his damp hair curling around his shoulders.

“Well?” Keith said expectantly, giving his shirt a little shake. “Do you mind?”

Lance couldn’t speak, so he just stepped aside, letting Keith reach forward to drape the collar of his shirt over the door handle. He couldn’t move back far enough though, with so much of the room taken up by beds, and he shuddered as Keith’s bare shoulder brushed against his chest.

Thankfully Keith didn’t seem to notice, the other trainer quickly striding back to the other side of the room once all of his clothes had been put out. The last thing he did was pick up his belt, revealing a single pokeball still attached to the holster. Lance blinked in surprise; he had thought Keith had given over all of his Pokemon to be healed for the night already. He hadn’t realized there was one left.

Keith caught his look and, correctly interpreting Lance’s confused expression, he shrugged. “It was a Water-type Gym,” he explained, tossing the pokeball into the air as he spoke. There was a burst of light as the pokeball opened, and then a fluffy Flareon landed on Keith’s bed with a soft cry. “So I obviously didn’t use Flareon in the battle,” he finished, even though Lance was sure that went without saying.

Lance’s jaw dropped open a little bit as Flareon stretched out after being cooped up in its Pokeball for too long.

Lance absolutely loved his Vaporeon with all of his heart – he’d been planning on evolving his Eevee into one from the moment he’d caught it, and his parents had surprised him with a gift of a Water Stone for his 15 th birthday – but he also really loved Eevees and Eevelutions in general, and he couldn’t help letting out a happy coo at the sight of such a beautiful Flareon. Without even thinking about it, he started reaching out towards the Flareon’s soft fur, itching to pet it. He only managed to stop himself when he heard Vaporeon let out a little indignant squeak.

“Whoops,” Lance quickly stepped back, letting his hand rest on Vaporeon’s head and scratching it behind the fins in apology. “Sorry buddy.” Vaporeon seemed to accept his apology, its eyes slipping shut in pleasure as Lance scratched a particularly good spot. Satisfied that Vaporeon wasn’t jealous anymore, Lance looked back at the Flareon in wonder.

“I didn’t know you had a Flareon.” Lance watched as the Flareon started inspecting the bedspread, sniffing at the pillows curiously. He thought he’d seen most of Keith’s Pokemon before, between their first disastrous meeting and the few times he’d stumbled on the team training when they crossed paths, but they were all gruff and strong like Keith. This Flareon was so graceful and beautiful, it was completely unexpected.

“I actually got it in a trade,” Keith confessed as he crawled into bed, completely unaware of how quickly Lance had been taken in by his Pokemon. “You remember my Primeape?”

“You traded away your  _ Primeape _ ?” Lance goggled. He remembered the last time he’d seen it; it had just punched a tree in half. How could Keith want to give that up?

Keith answered his unspoken question almost immediately. “The woman I traded it to worked on a farm, and she needed a strong pair of hands to help her. Primeape was really tough, but I never got the feeling that it actually  _ liked _ battling. When she offered to trade, I asked Primeape if this was what it wanted, and it told me yes. I think Flareon was bored on the farm, so it kind of worked out for the best for everyone.” Keith finished his story, reaching up and scratching Flareon under the chin. The fire-type practically purred at the attention.

“Wow…that’s pretty cool,” Lance had to admit. And then, because he just couldn’t help himself, “Its fur looks  _ really _ soft.”

“It is,” Keith whispered conspiratorially with a grin. “Wanna feel?”

How could Lance resist? He stood and walked over, reaching out carefully. Flareon watched his approach with wary eyes, but its trainer was by its side, and it trusted him, so it let Lance get close without biting him or trying to throw fire at him. When Lance’s hands sunk into the fluffy ring of fur around its neck, its eyes slid closed and it let out a tiny huff of acceptance.

It was just as soft as Lance imagined, but it was also so  _ warm _ . Vaporeon’s fur was short and slick to make it easier to swim, and it was a Water-type, so it always seemed a bit cool to the touch, but Flareon’s fur was like the softest sun-warmed cloud by comparison. “It’s beautiful,” Lance murmured, stroking the tufts between his fingers.

“Yeah?” Keith whispered in a soft voice, and Lance realized suddenly that instead of looking at his Flareon, Keith was watching Lance with hooded eyes. Lance made eye contact and froze, feeling for a second like a Rattata caught before an Arbok. He swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry.

“I, uh…” Lance pulled his hands away from Flareon as if he’d been burned, taking a careful step back until the backs of his knees hit his bed. “I better get ready for bed,” Lance squeaked out.

Keith studied him for a moment with that intense look, and then his face fell a little in disappointment. But then he almost immediately shrugged and rolled over, making Lance wonder if he’d read Keith’s expressions right at all. “Good idea,” Keith said, throwing his arms around Flareon and hugging it close like a personal space heater. “G’night.”

Lance stared at his back, feeling like he’d somehow screwed something up, though he had no idea how. But then he suddenly yawned so wide he felt his jaw crack, and he realized he really  _ did _ need to get to bed. It had been a long day. He grabbed his PJs out of his bag and trekked down the hall to the semi-public washroom to get changed and to brush his teeth.

By the time he got back, Keith was clearly fast asleep, the sound of soft snoring drifting up from his side of the room. Flareon, however, was still awake, and seemed to be staring at Lance’s Vaporeon intently. He shut the door quietly behind him, the soft click breaking the two Pokemon’s staring contest, and Vaporeon let out a tired peep of happiness as he crawled into bed beside it. Immediately it draped itself all over his chest, crushing his ribs and sticking its cold nose directly into his ear. Lance, long used to this, just grunted and tried his best to get comfortable.

Still, as the four of them settled down for the night, Lance couldn’t help but glance over at the Flareon, watching it wistfully as he started to drift off. It really was so beautiful…just like Keith…

He fell asleep to dreams of soft fur, laughter, and the feeling of a warm hand in his own.

 

* * *

 

“Wigglytuff! Finish it off with Thunderbolt!” Shiro cried out, his voice echoing across the gym’s battlegrounds. Wigglytuff was leaning heavily on one leg, its long ears drooping, but it still heard Shiro’s command. It puffed up, a ball of crackling energy gathering in front of its open mouth, and then it blew out hard, sending a bold of lightning lancing across the field to slam into the side of the Qwilfish. The balloon Pokemon let out a wheeze as the attack arced across its body, and then it collapsed back into the pool, knocked out.

“Yes!” Shiro heard Pidge shouting with glee from the stands. Even though she was the only one watching the battle on his side of the field, she was cheering loudly enough that he still ducked his head in embarrassment.

“Good job, Wigglytuff,” Shiro congratulated his tired Pokemon as it waddled over. Wigglytuff was soaked through, and its fur was roughed up in patches where it had taken some tough hits, but it still gave him a pleased smile and a happy cheer. It was just as proud of itself as Shiro was. Shiro gave it a pat on the head before withdrawing it back into its pokeball to rest.

“That was one hell of a fight,” the gym leader said as they made their way around the battlefield. They grinned at Shiro as they held out a shiny blue badge shaped like a rolling wave. “And at least slightly longer than the fight against your friend’s Magnemite there. Serves me right for underestimating you both. Here. The Shore Badge is yours as well.”

Shiro gracefully accepted the badge, taking it from the leader and carefully placing it inside the badge case he’d been given at the Pokemon Center. His battle had taken longer than Pidge’s because he didn’t have type advantage, but he still thought that he and Wigglytuff had put on just as good a show.

“Congrats again,” the gym leader said, patting him on the shoulder, before turning back to the gym trainers that were watching in the stands. “I hope you were all taking notes on that match, because I’m definitely going to be using it as a practical example on your next test!” they shouted with a wild-looking grin. The trainers groaned, but Shiro could see that most of them were holding clipboards and dutifully writing away, so they were probably used to their leader’s antics.

Once Pidge arrived next to him, jumping down from the stands and landing next to Shiro with a thump, he led the way out of the gym, absently rubbing his thumb over Wigglytuff’s pokeball. They paused to collect their winnings from the front desk, Shiro barely containing a sigh of relief as their financial situation  _ finally _ started to look a bit better, and then they stepped out into the bright sunlight outside the gym’s front doors.

“That was amazing, Shiro,” Pidge commented as they started to walk back towards the Pokemon Center. “Matt had said you were really good, but it’s something else to actually  _ see _ you in action.”

Shiro scoffed, shaking his head. “Oh come on, I wasn’t  _ that _ good.  _ Your _ fight was way more impressive.”

“Shiro, I had a type advantage, the gym leader went easy on me because I’m so young, and I  _ still _ would have lost if Magnemite’s thunderbolt had missed at the end there,” Pidge argued. “You only had Wigglytuff, who was at a type  _ disadvantage _ , and you still managed to win! You’re really good.”

But Shiro just couldn’t believe it. “I’m sure they were just having an off day,” he said. “I got lucky, that’s all. And besides, Wigglytuff was a really good battler. It wasn’t all me in there.”

“But…ugh, fine whatever,” Pidge finally gave up, realizing that Shiro wasn’t going to be convinced. Shiro watched her fight the urge to cross her arms and pout out of the corner of his eye, and hid a grin by rubbing his hand over his face.

“So,” he started, changing the subject before Pidge could get too worked up. “After we heal up at the Pokemon Center, what do you want to do next? Go out for lunch to celebrate? Start looking for clues for Matt and your dad?”

Pidge stared ahead thoughtfully, weighing their options. “Actually…” she began slowly, turning to look through the rows of houses they were walking past to the edge of the tree line that was just visible beyond. “After watching your battle, I was thinking that maybe what we need to do is pick up some more Pokemon.”

“Oh?” Shiro said, surprised.

“Yeah. You’ve only got Wigglytuff and all I have is Magnemite. While they’re awesome, we probably need some more Pokemon on our team if we want to find my brother and my dad. What if the people who have them have a bunch of fire-types? We’d be in big trouble. We need to diversify a little.”

“I suppose,” Shiro agreed slowly, sensing the wisdom in her words. “What did you have in mind, though? Contacting another breeder?”

But Pidge just gave him a flat look. “Shiro,” she grunted. “We’re  _ trainers _ . We’re supposed to  _ catch _ new Pokemon.”

Her deliver was so deadpan that Shiro couldn’t help but crack up. “Okay, okay,” he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. “After we heal up at the center and grab a quick bite, we’ll head over to the PokeMart and pick up a few pokeballs. You’re right, it’s about time we started looking for more teammates.”

“Of course I’m right,” Pidge said smugly, strutting ahead and completely dismissing their earlier argument about Shiro’s ability as a trainer from her mind. Shiro trailed after her, still chuckling to himself, and trying to imagine what kinds of Pokemon they might find in the woods.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, Vee. We got this. We got this,” Lance repeated under his breath, trying very hard not to tug at his costume  _ again _ . The last time he’d messed with it, he’d pulled the ribbons out of place and it had taken him nearly five minutes to get everything straightened out again. He was going out in less than a minute; he didn’t have time to fix it again. “We  _ got _ this.”

“Vee!” his Vaporeon cooed in agreement, the only sign of its nerves the twitching of its tail.

Lance gave Vaporeon a weak grin, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. It was true, though, they  _ did _ ‘got this’. He and Vaporeon had been working on this routine for close to three months, and he was so excited to finally show it off. But even though they had polished it to perfection, even though he’d checked four times to make sure that his costume was spotless and he had all of his props in place, even though Vaporeon was his best performer and never let him down before, he couldn’t shake the pre-show jitters. They got him every time.

But soon he’d be on stage and the bright lights and the rush of the performance would melt all of those nerves away. A few more seconds.

“And up next, we have Lance and his wonderful Vaporeon!” the announcer’s voice rang out, and that was Lance’s cue. His eyes snapped open, he breathed out, and then he and Vaporeon were stepping out into the blinding lights.

He couldn’t see the audience past the stage lights, but he bowed to their general direction, Vaporeon dipping its head majestically at the same time. And then he turned to Vaporeon, giving his Pokemon a big grin.

“Vaporeon, use bubble,” he said firmly. At the same time, he pulled out a bottle from the pouch at his side, uncapping it to reveal a bubble wand. As Vaporeon released a series of watery bubbles to float through the air, he added a few of his own to the mix. The two types of bubbles shimmered in the stage lighting, filling the air around them.

Then, just when it was getting hard to see the stage, Lance called out again. “Vaporeon, Ice Beam,” he ordered. Vaporeon, already knowing this part of the show exactly, opened its mouth, a ball of icy blue energy gathering just in front of its muzzle. Then, with a howl, Vaporeon released the Ice Beam in all directions, striking the bubbles in the air and making them freeze solid – but only the bubbles that Vaporeon had made. The frozen spheres hung in the air for a moment as if weightless, and then began to fall to the ground.

“Aurora beam!” Lance shouted. A second beam of light shot from Vaporeon’s mouth, glimmering in several different hues instead of the icy blue from before, and hit each of Lance’s bubbles, making each of them shimmer in a riot of colours before popping all at once at the exact same time that the frozen bubbles hit the stage and shattered. The result was like a rainbow of icy fireworks exploding all across the stage, momentarily hiding Lance and Vaporeon from view behind a blizzard of colour.

When the ice and snow finally settled, Lance and Vaporeon bowed, and the audience erupted into cheers.

“That was amazing!” Lance squealed to Vaporeon the moment they had left the stage. “That went even better than in practice! I’m so proud of you!” He couldn’t resist sweeping Vaporeon up into his arms, despite its bulk, and squeezing it around the middle.

Vaporeon, for its part, didn’t seem to mind the rough handling, licking every inch of Lance’s face that it could reach despite the glittery makeup he was still wearing.

“Wow, that was really, really cool,” a voice spoke up from behind them, and Lance turned to see a young man standing awkwardly to the side, watching them with an awe-struck look. He didn’t look like one of the contestants, wearing  a normal yellow t-shirt, a green vest, and a pair of baggy cargo pants rather than an elaborate costume, but he was clearly not a stage hand either. Lance briefly wondered how he’d managed to sneak backstage, before deciding it didn’t matter. He was always happy to say hi to fans.

He let Vaporeon drop to the floor and held out a hand to shake. “You thought that was cool? Good, because that was the point,” he smirked, pleased with his own pun. Even better, instead of rolling his eyes and walking away, the young man actually snorted.

“Yeah, I kind of walked into that one, didn’t I?” he agreed, taking Lance’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “I’m Hunk, by the way. It’s really nice to meet you. I actually saw you perform once before, back in Arus Town a few months ago, and I’d been hoping to see you perform again ever since.”

“Really?” Lance squawked, unbelievably pleased. His performance in Arus had been one of the first Contests where he’d actually scored a ribbon, so it had definitely been a show to behold, but that had been  _ ages _ ago. He was amazed that this guy still remembered him. Furthermore, Hunk didn’t exactly seem the type to watch Contests. Usually they were much more popular with young women, hence why Lance enjoyed them so much, and Hunk looked more like he’d been spending time in a Gym than a Contest Hall. But he also seemed so shy and wonderstruck in Lance’s presence, so who was he to judge?

“So you’re a fan of Contests, I take it?” he asked, just to be sure, withdrawing Vaporeon back into its pokeball at the same time.

“Yeah,” Hunk admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I try to watch them whenever I get a chance. I always love how Contestants can turn Pokemon attacks from something destructive to something beautiful. It’s like art. You can tell how much time and effort goes into choreographing and practicing those routines, you know?”

The more Hunk spoke, the more Lance wanted to just take him home with him. He didn’t sound anything like the usual Contest fans Lance had run into in the past, who were usually only there for a show. Hunk sounded like he actually understood the talent and artistry that went into each performance. Before Lance could stop himself, he found himself blurting out, “Do you do contests?”

Hunk immediately started spluttering. “Who,  _ me?! _ Oh gosh, no, just, absolutely not, me? Nope, no way.”

“Why not?” Lance couldn’t help but ask. “You clearly enjoy it, why not try it yourself?”

“I-I couldn’t just…it wouldn’t be… _ me?” _ Hunk repeated again, still struggling to find words.

“Yeah, you,” Lance said. “You clearly have an eye for it.”

“Well, just  _ look _ at me, first of all.” Hunk gestured to his body, hidden under his baggy clothes but still visibly bulky. “I don’t exactly look the type.”

Lance ignored the fact that he’d had a very similar thought earlier, shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter,” he insisted. “Sure, most coordinators are the slim, dainty types, but that’s because that’s what audiences expect,” he pointed out. “You could probably do a really good show by focusing on subverting expectations. For example, what Pokemon do you have?”

Hunk flushed, his hand instinctively going to the belt at his waist that contained two shiny red pokeballs and one cool blue Great Ball. “Um, well. I have, uh, a Rockruff?”

“See? That’s perfect!” Lance exclaimed, his mind already whirling with possibilities. “Rockruffs are adorable, and I bet you could do something with Rock Throw and playing fetch or something. Audiences would melt.”

“You really think so?” Hunk asked, sounding wistful and not nearly as convinced as Lance would like. Well, only one way to fix that.

“I know so,” he insisted. “In fact, come find me at the Pokemon Center after the Contest is over, and I’ll personally choreograph a routine for you and your Rockruff.”

For a moment, a complicated series of emotions crossed Hunk’s face. Lance thought he saw surprise, uncertainty, and then determination, but everything else passed too quickly for him to really catch. Then, Hunk gave him a firm nod. “Yeah, okay,” he agreed. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Awesome,” Lance grinned. He liked Hunk already, he couldn’t wait to spend more time with him. “I’ll see you then.”

Hunk waved, and then disappeared into the maze of hallways leading from the backstage while Lance turned and headed back to the greenroom. He had a few minutes to prepare for the battle portion of the Contest, and there was a plate of cheese sticks waiting there with his name on it.

 

* * *

 

Although Hunk had seemed pretty determined, Lance was still surprised when he actually did show up at the Pokemon Center later that evening. He’d changed out of his simple outfit from before, wearing something a little bit hardier for travelling, and he’d tied his hair back with an orange bandana. Altogether he looked more ready to become a trainer than a coordinator, but Lance was ready to work with what he had.

“Hey Hunk!” he greeted happily, waving the other man over as he walked into the Pokemon Center’s front door. “You ready for some Contest training?”

“Hey Lance,” Hunk returned, much more subdued. “I, uh. I guess I am?”

“That’s the spirit!” Lance cheered, even though Hunk had sounded anything but excited. “Let’s start by going out into the Center’s backyard. There should be lots of space there, and you can show me what you and Rockruff can do.”

“Okay,” Hunk agreed reluctantly, following along as Lance led them out through the back door.

Sure enough, the lawn behind the Pokemon Center was nice and open. A few other trainers were also taking advantage of the space; a young man was watching his Scyther and Absol trade blows while another trainer was coaching her Wingull through hitting targets with Water Gun, but neither of them was taking up too much room. Lance led them past the other two trainers towards the edge of the yard just the same.

“Here,” he said, stopping in place and gesturing around. “Why don’t we start here.”

Hunk nodded, and unclipped the Great Ball from his belt. He neatly tossed it into the air, and the ball opened with a burst of light, releasing the Pokemon inside. When the light cleared, a small dog-like Pokemon was standing in the middle of the grass, shaking out its brown fur and letting out a small yip.

“Hey, Rockruff,” Hunk knelt down next to his Pokemon, who immediately scurried over and started rubbing itself against Hunk’s side. Even though the point rocks around its neck must have hurt, Hunk didn’t even flinch. “We’re going to try something new today,” Hunk told Rockruff. “This is Lance.”

Lance waved at the little Pokemon when it looked up at him. “Hi, Rockruff,” he greeted.

Rockruff tilted its head quizzically, looking between Hunk and Lance, before letting out a happy bark and letting its tongue loll out of its mouth.

“Does it know Rock Throw?” Lance asked, plans already starting to form in his head as he looked between the Pokemon and its trainer.

“Yeah,” Hunk responded, sounding vaguely insulted that Lance had even needed to ask.

But Lance was not deterred, giving Hunk a sly look. “More importantly, can you juggle?” His smirk only grew as Hunk swallowed thickly, eyeing Lance nervously.

“I…no?” Hunk admitted cautiously, looking ready to bolt.

“Well you’re gonna learn,” Lance announced. “Rockruff? Would you be so kind as to provide us with some rocks to juggle?”

Rockruff barked cheerfully, and used Rock Throw.

It took nearly two hours, most of the time teaching Hunk how to juggle the rocks that Rockruff created, but as the sun started to set, Lance felt like Hunk and Rockruff had the decent beginnings of a very good routine. Just a bit more practice, a fancy costume, and Hunk would make a pretty good coordinator if Lance said so himself. As his watch beeped, telling him that dinner would be served at the Center soon, Lance reached out and patted Hunk on the shoulder.

“I think that’s enough practice for today,” he told the other man, offering him a towel from his bag so that Hunk could wipe the dirt and sweat from his face. “Let’s head in and get some dinner.”

Both Hunk and Rockruff immediately perked up at the mention of food, and Lance found himself being practically dragged back to the Pokemon Center by one very excited Hunk. He laughed, and even though he’d earned himself another ribbon earlier, somehow this still felt like the highlight of his day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much of Shiro and Pidge in this chapter, but they've been kind of stealing the show up until this point, so it's only fair. And yay! A wild Hunk appears! About time this ball of love and sunshine made an appearance.
> 
> Side note: I am pretty sure I suck at writing Pokemon Contests. Please just try to imagine that Lance's performance was super good, okay? :)

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to chat me up about this fic, please visit me at my [main](http://ikiracake.tumblr.com/) and [voltron blogs](http://i-see-london-i-see-klance.tumblr.com/). Any messages or comments you send me will go a long way towards helping me finish this fic, and I'm always happy to chat with new people! Come say hi!


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